Eve Torres Was A Great Diva In A Dark Time For WWE's Women's Division
The women’s division sadly never got the opportunities in past eras of WWE to truly be celebrated for their accomplishments. WWE only treated Trish Stratus and Lita with the respect of being legends comparable to the male wrestlers when looking at their legacies. Recent years and the importance of women’s wrestling changed the landscape for the overlooked ladies to get more shine.
Eve Torres stands out as one talent who had an extremely underrated run. The rest of the women’s division didn’t have much freedom to showcase their characters or have stronger matches at the time, so her work gets lost as the years go by. However, Torres deserves more credit for being a huge asset to WWE’s women’s division when the company didn’t care as much as they do today.
Eve Torres Was A Good Babyface
WWE utilized Eve Torres as both a strong member of the women’s division and a spokesperson for the company. Torres was athletic in the ring and had the ability to deliver compelling matches at a time when the women rarely had those. WWE usually allotted a couple of minutes to the women’s matches, but Torres made the most of her time to stand out towards the top.
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An underrated feud with Maryse saw Torres winning her first Divas Championship to become the top female in the company. Maryse was the top heel in the women’s division and WWE badly needed a face to dethrone her. Torres beating Maryse to win the gold established her as one of the more successful women in WWE capable of leading the division.
WWE trusted Torres to appear with The Miz on most promotional tours as representatives of the company. Torres was often on the talk shows and various press junkets to sell the WWE product holding the title when she was the Divas Champion. A second title win came during a feud with Layla to continue the success as a face.
Eve Torres Was An Even Better Heel
The best work of Eve Torres came when she turned heel by betraying Zack Ryder. WWE utilized the popularity of Ryder’s online fan movement to enter a storyline trying to date Eve. The big heel turn would see Torres betraying him by trying to leave him for John Cena. Any member of the women’s division having a story with Cena at the time was a huge role.
Torres made huge changes to her character by playing a snobby villain for the first time. The role as an authority figure helped her get involved in bigger storylines to keep the fan hatred growing. Torres would have her best Divas Championship reign when becoming the first woman to win the belt for a third time.
The character development added a fun aspect following her victories by posing for photos after her matches. Eve would have photographers enter the ring while she did various poses with the title over her fallen opponents as one of the better heel tactics the women’s division had ever seen. WWE even benefited from the moment of Torres losing the Divas Championship when she put over Kaitlyn as a face to have a strong run moving forward.
Is Eve Torres A WWE Hall Of Famer?
The biggest reason Eve Torres doesn’t get as much love as she deserves was the early retirement from the ring. Torres wanted to leave wrestling in her prime to focus on other aspects like becoming a teacher for the Gracie Women Empowered Self Defense program and starting a family with her husband Rener Gracie. WWE realized the value of Eve’s reliability and signed her to a contract as an ambassador, but she has never returned to the ring.
Torres could have had more classic moments in WWE if she stuck around a few years more. AJ Lee and Nikki Bella broke out within the next couple of years as all-time great champs for the women’s division. Eve had all the skills in the wrestling world to reach that level as well with the women getting a little more time.
Regardless of that variable, Torres should be appreciated for having such a strong career when it was harder to stand out. WWE has inducted quite a few Hall of Famers with fewer contributions than her. The best moments and memories from Eve helped provide one of the better and more successful Divas Champions. WWE certainly benefited from the underrated career of Torres. There should be a spot in the Hall of Fame for Eve Torres sooner or later.
